Mourinho gets his first Bernabeu league night in 13 years, and three of his defenders are unavailable

Jose Mourinho takes charge of a Real Madrid league match at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night for the first time since 2013. It is Real Sociedad who provide the occasion, in a game that is officially Matchday 1 of La Liga despite arriving eleven days after the season started. Kick-off in Madrid is 9pm, which is 12.30am on Thursday in India.

Why the opening fixture is being played in late August

The scheduling is a hangover from the World Cup. Clubs who had players involved in the semi-finals were given later starts, which is why Real Madrid and Barcelona have each played once while most of La Liga has played twice. Madrid’s delayed opener came at Espanyol on 22 August and they won it 2-1, Jude Bellingham scoring and Carlos Espi coming off the bench to settle it.

Espi is worth watching. Madrid triggered his 25 million euro release clause at Levante in late July, and his first meaningful contribution was a winning goal away from home. Whether that earns him a start on Wednesday is Mourinho’s call, and Mourinho has never been especially sentimental about rewarding substitutes.

A thin defence

The team news is not encouraging. Eder Militao is out with a muscle problem, Raul Asencio with a thigh injury and Ferland Mendy with a hip issue, which removes two centre-backs and a left-back in one go. Rodrygo is out with a knee injury. Aurelien Tchouameni, who can fill in at centre-back, is listed as a doubt along with Endrick and Thiago Pitarch.

Bellingham is expected to play through an ankle complaint. The club said Mourinho has 23 players available, which sounds healthier than the injury list reads, and a good part of Wednesday’s interest is in what he puts together at the back.

Sociedad arrive with nothing yet

Real Sociedad lost 1-0 at Real Betis in their opening game, beaten by a Rodrigo Riquelme volley in a match they had chances to take something from. That leaves them 19th, which looks worse than it is when six of the twenty clubs have played only once.

Mikel Oyarzabal is expected to start after beginning that game on the bench. Alvaro Odriozola is a long-term absentee with a knee injury, and Pablo Marin, Jon Gorrotxategi and Goncalo Guedes were all facing late fitness tests.

The history is lopsided

These sides have met many times over the decades, with Real Madrid comfortably the more successful side. Madrid took the most recent league meeting 4-1, and Sociedad have not won a league game in Madrid since 2019.

None of which settles anything on the night. Sociedad have been awkward opponents for Madrid teams that were better than them on paper, and a home side missing three defenders and playing its first match in front of its own crowd under a returning manager is not the most predictable proposition. Madrid should win. The interesting part is how.

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